(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer that detects a defective nozzle among nozzles of an ink jet head.
(2) Description of Related Art
A conventionally known ink jet printer that detects a defective nozzle among nozzles of an ink jet head is provided with the ink jet head in which the nozzles for discharging ink droplets toward a print medium are formed, a light emitting section emitting light for detecting the fling ink droplets that were discharged from the nozzles, and a light receiving section for receiving the light emitted by the light emitting section, in which the ink droplets are detected in a case where an amount of the light received by the light receiving section among the light emitted by the light emitting section is equal to or less than a predetermined amount are known (see JP 3507340 B). This ink jet printer determines a nozzle as being defective in a case where the ink droplet discharged from the nozzle is not detected at a timing of when the ink droplet is scheduled to pass through a dedicated detection region different from a region through which the ink droplet passes at the time of printing onto a print medium.